This was a gamble too, a linguistic high-stakes game fought for survival—pass, and live; fail, and die! The little girl nodded. "Brother Nios, what he says is true, though it feels like he hasn't finished saying everything..." Rogandao smiled faintly. "Of course I haven't finished; I still have the hints he gave me to share. Do you want to know those things too?" He directed this last remark toward Nios.

Nios ate a piece of chocolate and nodded silently.

(...I succeeded! If he had given me the hints when I returned to the starship from the insect planet. He must think the way to give me hints was by speaking directly face-to-face. If he asks how I was hinted, my cover will be blown. But if they believe the hinting happened after returning from the insect planet, then the method must have been face-to-face conversation or writing, any form of direct contact. Thus, the method of hinting is no longer important... I survived! "The content of the hint was to name the rest of the team members, excluding the psychic controller, and to reveal all this at the final moment today... That is everything I know. I absolutely haven't lied. As long as my life is secured, I will certainly reveal that person's name.")

Nios looked silently at the little girl, who also nodded silently, signaling that what Rogandao said was the truth.

The blond youth then tore open another chocolate wrapper and sat there, lost in thought.

(He hinted at this newcomer from the Central Continent team days ago? There are two possibilities here. Did he tell all team members about this hint? Or did he only tell him? If it was the former, it was a precaution in case one of his team members was captured by us. If it was the latter, then he must have set a trap for us to fall into! And the bait for this trap is the Central Continent team newcomer right before me! Thinking this, Nios quickly asked, "When he hinted to you, was it just you, or the whole team? This question is very important. Answer me honestly!" Rogandao replied without hesitation, "When he told us everything, he told all of us—not just me, but the rest of the team members too. Everyone was informed.")

The little girl nodded once more. "That’s right, Brother Nios, he’s telling the truth."

(...Once you missed the initial moment, you actually failed!) Rogandao thought to himself. He watched the blond youth tear open another chocolate wrapper and continue eating. Although he didn't know what the blond youth was thinking, Rogandao realized that by being led down this mistaken path from the start, if this path continued, the blond youth would certainly fail to deduce Chu Xuan's true plan. Consequently, the probability of the rest of the Central Continent team arriving to rescue him would greatly increase.

Nios had indeed let his thoughts drift onto a false trail. In his current line of reasoning, since Chu Xuan had informed all members of the Central Continent team about this information many days ago, it was merely a contingency to increase the survival odds should a team member be captured. After all, the Central Continent team was the strongest of the three factions. Therefore, if a member were captured, rescue would be easy just by locating the team members, perhaps even allowing them to launch a fatal strike against the Southern Flame Continent team. That was why Chu Xuan didn't let him name the psychic controller—it conveniently provided the captured member with an excuse for survival.

(Of course, it's also possible he intended for the psychic controller to interfere with our psychic link, preventing us from successfully executing the final layout at this critical juncture. But such an effort would be futile. We only need to ensure our psychics simultaneously use the Mind Chain to link all members, instructing them to broadcast the information across all ship networks. As long as we hold the 'momentum,' once the Central Continent team is officially deemed infested by parasites, any resistance on their part will only deepen that conclusion... We have already won!) "If it's only that... then there's nothing to worry about."

Nios nodded. He turned to the surrounding people. "Then proceed according to the plan. Bind him with the GANNIM Alloy lock, and let Xueling'er and Milia monitor him. We will proceed with the next steps. Richard, Hoffier, the two of you go meet with the high-ranking military officials on the flagship. To guard against any desperate last stands they might attempt, you must protect the military brass on the flagship. Meanwhile, Aya and I will enter the two information network vessels. We'll have Xueling'er use the Mind Chain to link our consciousnesses. Once the high-ranking officials receive our assessment report, we can issue a broadcast announcement across the fleet, authorizing every soldier nearby to freely arrest these five individuals! If they resist, all the better. The first act of resistance will signify our absolute victory... Hahaha."

For all the surviving expeditionary soldiers today, it was a day brimming with fortune, as the high-ranking military officials were set to commend them for their valiant fighting. Every surviving soldier would become a Non-Commissioned Officer after the decoration ceremony, leading the ten thousand reinforcements yet to arrive into battle. These several thousand soldiers had undoubtedly become heroes of the Earth Federation.

Compared to these thousands of heroes, there were four who were heroes among heroes. These four individuals had saved these thousands of soldiers during the crisis and dramatically restored humanity's prestige, preventing humankind from sinking into a mindset inferior to that of insects. They commanded several thousand soldiers to annihilate hundreds of thousands of bugs. Such achievements deserved to be recorded in history. Today, they would be awarded various war hero medals and titles, and additionally promoted to the ranks of Colonel and Lieutenant Colonel, leading the ten thousand soldiers into the next phase of the war of revenge.

All the soldiers were in a state of exhilaration, each one indescribably excited. After transitioning from soldier to NCO, and watching the heroes who saved them become their direct superiors, the vast majority of soldiers had come to accept the leadership of these four following the several hours of defense on the insect planet. Everyone believed that fighting under their command guaranteed no defeat, and that their lives would be maximally preserved. Thus, this sentiment was complex and euphoric.

"Urgent broadcast! Urgent broadcast!" With only a few tens of minutes left until the decoration ceremony, alarms suddenly blared across all warships, and every large screen—whether television or otherwise—flickered to life. A blond youth appeared on the screens, clad in a crisp officer's uniform, looking strikingly handsome and cool, as if born to be a soldier. This blond youth silently took out a piece of paper, then addressed the screen. "Approximately a month ago, we discovered several human corpses in an insect habitat. During the autopsy, we discovered that the brains of these human bodies were infested by certain insects. These insects did not destroy the humans' basic motor functions, memory, or language capabilities. They looked just like us, human, but they were merely flesh slaves controlled by bugs—slaves possessing only their physical forms!"

"According to the report from the insect biologist, Dr. Rose, the parasites possess a unique ability to control humans. After controlling a human, they disguise themselves to blend into human society and may even attain significant power, even holding many high-level human positions, such as... military officers, or even staff officers planning military campaigns. Of course, this is merely my hypothesis..."

"However, based on the intelligence evidence we have obtained, five individuals within this expeditionary force perfectly match the characteristics of these parasitized humans described in Dr. Rose's report. The insects used a self-sacrificing tactic to deceive all of us into believing they were heroes... Although it is regrettable, I must state that the four heroes who emerged from this battle, plus one infiltrator, are likely flesh-slaves already infested by the insect parasites. The reason the insects employed this sacrificial tactic, and why their combat record was so brilliant, is because the bugs hoped to infiltrate our human core, gain high authority, and then lead all of humanity to utter ruin!"

"These five individuals are Zheng Zha, Chu Xuan, Ba Wang, Wang Xia, and Ling Dian. Here are their photographs. Any soldier in proximity to them has the obligation to swiftly apprehend them. We will perform cranial surgery on them. If they turn out to be uninfested heroes, we will offer a sincere apology. Therefore, I urge Zheng Zha and the other four not to resist in the slightest. Otherwise, soldiers are authorized to shoot them on sight to eliminate the insect threat. This is precisely our..." The screen showed the photos of the five individuals, but then it began to shake violently. Immediately after, Chu Xuan’s indifferent expression appeared on the main screen.

"I am Chu Xuan..." The jump to

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